2015 HSJ Awards - the winners are revealed

23 trophies handed out recognising, celebrating and spreading best practice and leading-edge performance

Staff from NHS trusts up and down the country gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London last week for the 2015 HSJ Awards.

A total of 23 trophies were presented, including the new category Improving outcomes through learning and development.

A spokesman for the awards said: “The last year has been a crucial period in the development of the NHS.

“The need to improve efficiency, while maintaining or improving quality,has been combined with the challenge of introducing new care models and navigating ever-increasing levels of government and regulatory scrutiny.

“That is why it is important, now more than ever, to recognise, celebrate and spread best practice and leading-edge performance.”

The winners are as follows:

Award for Acute Sector Innovation: University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust

Award for Using Technology to Improve Efficiency: Modality Partnership

Award for Workforce: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust picked up the Award for Patient Safety for its project, the Hip fracture journey through the lives of Alice and Dorothy, which showcased how standardised care, interdependencies and innovations have improved the quality of outcomes and contributed to the trust’s success. Its philosophy saw the mortality rate being dramatically reduced from 12% in 2012-2013, to 8.9% in 2013-2014, to just 5.4% in 2014-2015. By redesigning its care around vulnerability and fragility, the trust has achieved startling success – reducing the length of stay by 2.3 days and the required nursing, while increasing Best Practice Tariff to 80%.

Mike van der Watt, medical director at the trust, said of the award: "I could not be more proud. We are passionate about patient safety and it’s enormously pleasing that this has now been recognised by this national award.

“It is clear that this project has saved many lives in west Hertfordshire and it is now rolling out to other parts of the country. Our staff’s hard work and dedication has been commended by national experts on patient safety and this will only encourage us to do even more.”

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust picked up the Award for Improving Care with Technology for its development of a system which a study showed had contributed to saving over 760 lives at two hospitals in a single year.

The trust worked with The Learning Clinic, a health improvement company, to develop the pioneering VitalPAC system, which records patient observations electronically and enables doctors and nurses to identify deteriorating patients more quickly.

Using this technology, over the past seven years Portsmouth hospitals has managed to reduce mortality by 15% trust wide, equivalent to 350 fewer deaths per year. VitalPAC replaced the error-prone paper-based observation system with touch screen technology. Its speed, accuracy and reliability means observations are now 98% complete and take 40% less time to record, with 80% fewer errors.

The trust has also managed to cut outbreaks of the Norovirus winter vomiting bug by more than 90% over a five-year period, according to research published in the BMJ Quality and Safety journal. It used a combination of VitalPAC’s innovative Infection Prevention and Control system along with some simple clinical measures to identify and manage patients promptly who had the virus.

Markus Bolton, joint chief executive of The Learning Clinic said: “Portsmouth have been our closest partner in our journey to make healthcare safer, smarter and more efficient, so I am thrilled that they have received such a high-profile national award. They should be extremely proud of what they have achieved.

“Not only have their efforts helped make their own services safer, but because VitalPAC is now used in over 50 trusts, they have helped make patients all over the country safer. We look forward to continuing to work with Portsmouth Hospitals.”